SiS Beginner Sportive Training Plan - 12 weeks

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GREATNESS FROM THE INSIDE OUT

SiS Beginner Sportive training plan - 12 weekS

This sportive training plan should give you a great start to your training if you’re used to exercising 2-3 times per week already, with at least one bike ride a week as one of those sessions. The intention is that your target event ride is around 50-60 miles in length.

The key is to build up gradually, so try and not overreach early on even if you are feeling good. If you have any injury niggles that do not clear up quickly, make sure you see a sports physiotherapist or check with your GP.

You may want to plan out your rides online before you go out to check the mileage of what you intend to do. Apps such as Strava and Garmin Connect are useful for this, and you’ll often to be able to find somebody else’s routes as inspiration in your local area.

What do I eat and drink in the sessions?

Most of us have enough stored carbohydrate in our bodies to last for at least 90 minutes of exercise, depending on the intensity. Generally you don’t need any additional energy during your sessions if they don’t last longer than 90 minutes. Hydration is still key though, so you can use SiS GO Hydro most of the time to provide electrolytes to aid hydration without any additional carbohydrate. Aim for 500ml-1000ml per hour, depending on your sweat rate. If you are going to be cycling for longer than 90 minutes, you need to take in additional carbohydrate during your ride in order to avoid completely depleting your carbohydrate stores and risk hitting the wall. You can absorb up to 60g carbohydrate per hour, and you need energy in a fast digesting, convenient format that is light on your stomach. Combining SiS GO Electrolyte and SiS GO Isotonic Energy Gels or SiS GO Energy Bars are an ideal way to achieve this. There are meal and product recommendations throughout this plan as suggestions, but of course you can move these around as suits your schedule best. If it’s more practical for you to do your long ride on a Saturday rather than a Sunday, go for it! Just swap the Saturday and Monday session around to a give you an easier recovery day the day after your long ride.

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WEEk 1 WEEk 2 WEEk 3 WEEk 4 WEEk 5 WEEk 6

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1 hour ride

Steady paced ride - try not to get out of breath.

Pedal @ 90-95rpm Hydrate with SiS GO Hydro

Have breakfast/dinner afterwards or SiS REGO

Rapid Recovery

Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest

tue

Sd

ay

Rest 1 hour ride

Rapid Recovery

1 hour ride

Rapid Recovery

1 hour ride

Rapid Recovery

1 hour ride

Rapid Recovery

1.5 hour ride

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Sd

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Steady paced ride - try not 1 hour ride to get out of breath.

Pedal @90-95rpm Hydrate with SiS GO Hydro

Rapid Recovery

Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest

thur

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Rest 1 hour ride 20 mins warm up at a steady pace of 90-95 rpm - 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm - followed by 10 mins easy @ 80rpm - then 5 mins brisk @ 110 rpm - warm down for

20 mins to a steady pace @ 90 rpm

Hydrate with SiS GO Hydro

Rapid Recovery

1 hour ride 20 mins warm up at a steady pace of 90-95 rpm - 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm - followed by 10 mins easy @ 80rpm,- then 5 mins brisk @ 110 rpm, - warm down for

Rapid Recovery

1 hour ride

Steady paced ride - try not to get out of breath. Pedal

@ 90-95rpm

Rapid Recovery

1 hour ride 20 mins warm up at a steady pace of 90-95 rpm - 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm - followed by 10 mins easy @

80rpm - then 5 mins brisk @ 110 rpm - warm down for

Rapid Recovery

1.5 hour ride 20 mins warm up at a steady pace of 90 - 95rpm

- 5 mins brisk @110 rpm followed by,10 mins easy @ 80rpm, then 5 mins brisk

@110 rpm, then 10 mins easy @ 80 rpm, 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm, and finally warm down for 20 mins steady

@ 90 rpm

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Frid

ay

Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest

Sa

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1 hour ride

Have breakfast afterwards or SiS REGO Rapid

Recovery

1 hour ride

Recovery

1 - 1.5 hour ride Steady paced ride - try not

to get out of breath. Pedal @ 90-95rpm Hydrate with SiS GO Hydro

Recovery

2 hour ride

Recovery

2 hour ride

Recovery

Sund

ay

1 hour ride

Recovery

1.5 hour ride Steady paced ride - try not

Recovery

1.5 - 2 hour ride Steady paced ride - try not

Recovery

2 hour ride

Steady paced ride @ 95-100 rpm. Try some efforts on the hills - keep pedalling

over the top.

2 hour ride

Steady paced ride @ 95-100 rpm. Try some efforts on the hills - keep pedalling

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Mond

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Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest

tue

Sd

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1 hour ride

Recovery

1.5 hour ride

Recovery

1.5 hour ride

Steady pace, Increase your cadence up the hills, sitting

in saddle as long as possible. Hydrate with SiS GO Hydro

Recovery

1.5 hour ride

Recovery

1.5 hour ride

Steady pace ride - increase effort by pedalling faster not by using a bigger gear. Hydrate with SiS GO Hydro

Recovery

1 hour ride Steady pace. keep

cadence high. Hydrate with SiS GO Hydro

Recovery

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thur

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1.5 hour ride 20 mins warm up at a steady pace of 90 - 95rpm - 5 mins brisk @110 rpm followed by,8 mins easy @

80rpm, then 5 mins brisk @110 rpm, then 8 mins easy

@ 80 rpm, 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm, and finally warm down for 20 mins steady

@ 90 rpm Hydrate with

SiS GO Electrolyte

Have breakfast/dinner afterwards or

SiS REGO Rapid Recovery

1 - 1.5 hour ride Relax and enjoy. Practice

using bottle while riding and taking energy bars out

of back pocket. Hydrate with

SiS GO Hydro

- 5 mins brisk @110 rpm followed by,8 mins easy @

@ 80 rpm, 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm, 8 mins easy @ 80 rpm, 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm

and finally warm down for 20 mins steady @ 90 rpm

Hydrate with

Have breakfast/dinner afterwards or SiS REGO Rapid Recovery

Hydrate with

1.5 hour ride

Steady pace, throw in a few sprints up the hills to

break up ride. Hydrate with

Frid

ay

Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest See further articles on Rest

carb loading for diet recommendations

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Sa

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to get out of breath. Pedal @ 90-95rpm

Aim for 60g of carbohydrate per hour, e.g. 1 x SiS GO Energy gel or 1 x SiS GO Energy Mini bar + 500ml SiS

GO Electrolyte + water as required per hour.

within 30 minutes afterwards, then meal

within 2 hrs

Rest 2 hour ride

@ 90-95rpm

Aim for 60g of carbohydrate per hour, e.g. 1 x SiS GO Energy gel or 1 x SiS GO Energy Mini bar + 500mlSiS

within 2 hrs

3 hour ride Steady pace, keep your cadence high, concentrate

on climbing smoothly. Aim for 60g of carbohydrate

per hour, e.g. 1 x SiS GO Energy gel or 1 x SiS GO Energy Mini bar + 500ml SiS

within 2 hrs

3 hour ride Steady pace, keep

cadence high.

within 2 hrs

1 hour ride Have a nice light spin. Enjoy a bike ride at an

easy pace. Hydrate with

SiS GO Hydro

Have breakfast/dinner afterwards or SiS REGO Rapid Recovery

Sund

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3 hour ride

@ 90-95rpm

within 2 hrs

3.5 hour ride

@ 90-95rpm

within 2 hrs

4 hour ride

@ 90-95rpm

within 2 hrs

4 hour ride Ride with group or club.

Have one tea stop - 15 mins.

within 2 hrs

4.5 hour ride

Ride with group. Have one tea stop. keep cadence high. keep going over the

hills.

Aim for 60g of carbohydrate per hour, e.g. 1 x SiS GO Energy gel or 1 x SiS GO Energy Mini bar + 500mlSiS

GO Electrolyte + water as required per hour

within 2 hrs.

Sportive Event Day

Have breakfast 2-3 hrs before.

GO Electrolyte + water as required per hour

within 2 hrs. Take a serving of SiS Overnight Protein before

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GREATNESS FROM THE INSIDE OUT To get the most from your training, you need to understand the different types of training that you are

doing, what each ride is trying to achieve, its intensity and duration. Athletes generally plateau because their training is not structured, progressive or appropriate for their fitness level, experience or goal event. Listed below are the different elements of training that we incorporate into our training schedules. Obviously the combination, intensity and duration of these elements will depend on your level of experience, current fitness, time of year and the racing goals you are aiming for.

DEfInITIOnS

With the increased use of technology many of us now have access to heart rate monitors and even power meters. Whilst these instruments help us measure our effort when training it is not essential to invest in more expensive kit unnecessarily. It is possible to ride on “feel” alone and with practice you will know instinctively what “zone” the effort being expended equates to if you were using either a heart rate monitor or power meter. Old-style coaches used to describe how hard the intensity was by how freely you could speak whilst riding.

The basic zones are broken down as thus: Zone Effort

1 Easy – You can speak as freely as if you were not riding you could probably even sing! 2 Slow – Possible to hold a normal conversation

3a Steady – Speaking becomes less easy but still just about able to hold a conversation. 3b Brisk – Speaking will be difficult and require you to take a breath between sentences. 4 Threshold/Tempo – only able to speak in short sentences between taking deep breaths 5 Hard – possible to utter the odd word only

6 Very Hard – unpleasant caveman type grunts at best…

Obviously this method of measuring effort is less objective than modern methods but does allow riders without such devices the chance to understand what effort they are making.

In terms of heart rate:

Zone 1 would equate to <60% Maximum heart rate Zone 2 around 70%

Zone 3a around 75% Zone 3b around 80% Zone 4 around 85% Zone 5 around 90%

Zone 6 as hard as you can.

for more accuracy it is advisable to contact a coach and arrange to complete a simple test to determine your exact values based on your heart rate.

functional Threshold (fT) is described as the average effort that one can sustain in 1 hour of non-stop riding. It is similar to the power produced when riding a 25 mile time trial. There is a simple test devised by Hunter Allen of training Peaks that is used extensively to determine fT.

• Warm up for 20 mins

• Complete 3 X 1min efforts at around 120rpm with a minute rest after each. • Ride easy for a further 4 minutes

• Ride as hard as possible for 5 minutes • Ride easy for 10 minutes

• Ride as hard as you can for 20 minutes. (You should finish feeling that you can give no more!)

You need to find out what your average power or heart rate for the final 20 minute effort would be. Multiply that average by 0.95 to arrive at your functional Threshold.

You will need access to a heart rate monitor or power meter for this test. Do not complete this test unless you are fit to do so.

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eXaMple Meal planS

TYPICAl DAY ExAMPlE SunDAY (lOnG RIDE DAY)

Breakfast • Porridge oats 50g With 275ml skimmed milk • 1 x Tablespoon honey

• 250ml Mixed berry smoothie • 1 x Toasted bagel

Breakfast • 2 hours before: porridge oats 50g With 275ml skimmed milk + 1 x tablespoon honey

• Drink at least more 500ml of water/SiS GO Hydro between waking up and starting your training session.

Morning Snack • SiS GO Energy Bar 40g During Ride - longer than

90 minutes

• Take your first SiS GO Isotonic Energy Gel or SiS GO Energy bar 30 minutes into your ride, then repeat every 30 minutes alongside drinking 500ml per hour of SiS GO Electrolyte.

lunch • large jacket potato with tuna mayo

• Cereal bar Post-ride - within 30 minutes of finishing

• Have a SiS REGO Rapid Recovery as soon as possible after you finish, preferably within 30 minutes. • Continue to gradually rehydrate with SiS GO Hydro.

Afternoon

Snack • large banana• 125g x fruit yogurt • 30g Dried fruit

lunch

- within 2 hours • 1 x Chicken breast• 175g Rice

• large serving of mixed vegetables • 200g Rice pudding & 1 x tablespoon jam Dinner • 350g Chicken risotto

• 200g Rice pudding & 1 tablespoon jam Afternoon Snack • 150g Greek yogurt, 25g oats & 200g mixed red berries. Dinner • Salmon fillet

• Mixed roasted vegetables e.g. courgette, peppers, aubergine, cherry tomatoes, including two sweet potatoes.

• 200g Rice pudding & 1 tablespoon jam Evening Snack • 400ml Strawberry milkshake Evening Snack • SiS Overnight Protein

During the build up to your sportive event day your energy expenditure is likely to be increasing. As most of your training will be done at 65% or above of your heart rate max, carbohydrate will be your major fuel source.

The amount of stored glycogen in your body will decrease if you do not replenish it completely. This can leave you struggling in your subsequent sessions.

Recommendations for this kind of activity level in endurance athletes range from 6-10 grams of carbohydrate per kilo of body mass per day. To try and complement the advanced training program above, the below meal plan is aimed at high intakes of 7 grams of carbohydrate per kilo of body mass per day for a rider weighing 70kg.